Tooth to tooth with monster from the movies

Chris Chitty of Robotechnology puts the finishing touches on his robotic great white shark at Kelly Tarlton's. Picture / Brett Phibbs

Jackie Chan faced down this very shark in one of his movies. The Hollywood prop is now a feature in a display designed to encourage people to see past the shark's fearsome reputation.

The robotic monster is appearing as part of Kelly Tarlton's Shark Attack! show, which runs until May 14.

As well as the robotic shark from the movie First Strike, the exhibition will feature an "aqua cinema" with photos and footage of sharks, a chamber of horrors, a display about the prehistoric shark species Medalodon and a peek at the live sharks on display at Kelly Tarlton's, on Tamaki Drive, Orakei.

Operations manager Andrew Baker said it was a collation of many people's work studying and photographing sharks.

"This is a fantastic way to introduce people to new ways of thinking about sharks. As much as this is an educational experience, it's also an incredibly entertaining and eye-opening one. Most people don't realise that more people die each year from toasters, Christmas tree lights, deckchairs or bees than they do by shark attack."

He said that on average three sharks were killed every second by fishing and hunting, raising the question of whether the shark should be protected.

Last month, Conservation Minister Chris Carter released a discussion paper that covered options for protecting the great white shark.

In 2000, great white sharks were listed as globally vulnerable.